Chapter 22

Lyla and Ray woke up with sniffling noses and bad coughs.

“I can’t believe we fell asleep” Lyla cried, her teeth chattering. “What if the dweller tracked us down?”

The blood on Ray’s arm had dried extremely well and if they looked carefully, they could make out each tooth mark of the dwellers fangs.

“Do you think he’s far behind?” Lyla asked, pulling herself up and shaking the frost from her now pure white skin and tinged blue lips.

The sky was still grey and the air as cold as it had ever been before.

Ray wrapped his arm round Lyla’s shoulders.

“We’d better get to Atrinity and find an inn.”

They walked a further down the snow track until they found a big red sign, hammered into the ground. In thick black letters someone had scratched off the A, T and Y from Atrinity, leaving the word Rinit.

“Elves” Ray sighed, knowing full well that the word wasn’t a very nice or clean word in the north.

Lyla didn’t really understand the wrong in the word but didn’t question the meaning.

They found the cheapest inn there was and Ray was forced to sell his wooden necklace he carved for himself. A brownie bought it instantly, as it matched his chocolate brown t-shirt. Ray didn’t really care about the necklace but once again Lyla felt guilty again. It way too early in the morning and the innkeeper grumbled as he had to leave his warm bed to pass Ray the key.

Lyla took a quick shower first. The warm water stung and burnt her icy body but after a while she got used to it.

“I wish I could remember my cleaning incarnation” Ray sulked, not too keen on water.

While Ray was taking his shower, Lyla tried drying out hers and Ray’s clothes with the magic equivalent to a hair dryer except it sucked the water from the clothes and formed small crystal gems. Water was rare in Atrinity, just like Dwellers Land. There was no near by rivers or lakes and the nearest sea was in Marisa. Travellers were awarded these crystals but they were worth nothing.

“Don’t they just take snow from the Dweller Mountains?” Lyla called over the heavy growls of the hair dryer.

“You think they’d risk being ripped open by those beasts for the sake of a little water? They believe the dwellers hang around, to make sure no one crosses the city boundaries.” Ray answered, coming out the bath room with a white towel around his hips.

His normally fluffy hair drooped by the sides of his face.

“I think yours is completely dry now” she smiled and handed them back to him.

She was wearing a white dressing gown that buried her whole body underneath.

After he came out, Lyla went into the bathroom and changed as well.

“Time?” Ray asked, brushing his teeth and dribbling white foam from his mouth.

“5:30am” Lyla answered, fluffing her hair up.

“We could have had a couple of hours more bedtime!” he moaned.

“Not out there, no chance.” Lyla laughed, “Let me see your arm”

Ray took of his top and revealed a long deep gnash from the start of his shoulder bone and along his chest. A couple of inches right and his throat would have been cut.

Ripping up one of the towels, Lyla pressed it against his wound and taped it down with extra strong purple mushroom paste, she found in one of the inns drawers.

“You think it’s free?” Ray asked as she did so.

Lyla shrugged but slipped the lilac packet into her pocket.

“I’ll be right back, I just want to see if I can find a crystal ball parlour round here. Maybe then we can find Loriei.” Lyla called, leaving Ray to prod his bandage for a while.

She nudged a bar of soap in the door so she could open it again, without Ray having to get up.

As she left the room, a man from next door poked his head out the door. The first thing Lyla noticed was his human ears, sticking out his brown tufts of hair. The man was about thirty and was wearing a long blue robe to the ground. His brown hair was pinned back into a neat quill which took it from his sapphire blue eyes.

“A human?” Lyla whispered out loud and the man seemed to stiffen where she heard the word human.

He turned to her and stared sharply. Avoiding eye contact, Lyla quickened her pace down the hall. She turned the corner and stopped behind a rubber plant, suspicious what a human was doing in Atrinity. Eric was the only human in Ylddion but the man seemed achingly familiar. He walked past a while later, alongside a smaller hooded figure, wearing a heavy black cloak over her frail body. Only a pair of small pale hands, showed in the pitch darkness of her clothes. On her right hand, a pale blue ring sparkled a familiar glow and through the hood, small flicks of blonde hair stood out immensely.

‘I know who you are!’ Lyla screamed inside her head and before she knew it, she had leapt from her hiding place and ripped the hood from her head.

The girl turned around in shock and pulled away. The man pulled out a small dagger and pointed at her.

“Wait! I know her!” Lupita cried her feet stuck to the ground. “This is Lyla… her sister”

Lyla pulled a confused face and slowly raised her hands. Suddenly, shards of glass flew through the air as a green glass bottle smashed against the man’s head. Lupita and Lyla covered their eyes and when they looked again, saw Ray and the man struggle for a bit before the man elbowed him hard in the face, sending him to the ground.

“Stop it!” Lyla cried and crouched on the floor, covering him from any more blows.

Blood trickled down his nose.

“Now look what you’ve done” Lyla scolded.

Tom glared at Lupita.

“Your friends aren’t helping you. My patience wears thin” he growled.

“I think we should talk” Lupita announced, timidly. “There’s something you should know”

Abi had woken up after a little commotion outside her room. Stretching, she climbed out of bed and for a moment wondered where she was. She had spent the night in her vest and underwear so her new dress wouldn’t get ruined in the night. She took her time in the hot shower and brushing her teeth for she knew it might be a while before her next wash. Just in case, she sneaked a couple of soap bars and toiletries in her pocket. She grabbed a handful of sweets from the buffet downstairs and left the hotel with all she could carry. The streets were buzzing with excited creatures, rushing around the grim markets for bargains.

‘If I can find a way to get to Bloodbeam’s lair, before everyone else…’ Abi thought, crunching on a nut sweet coated in sugar.

She gazed up at the horizon at the Dweller mountains in the distance.

‘Too long a hike’ she shrugged and threw the candy wrapper on the floor, proud of her independence.

“I need a ride” she sighed, out loud.

Suddenly, a short dumpy dwarf called out over the crowds.

“OLIVERS FLYING WONDERS! ONLY HERE IN ATRINITY. CAPABLE OF FLYING FOR DAYS ON END!”

Abi didn’t get her hopes up, although it wasn’t just a coincidence. She knew that transport would cost more than a few sweets, which was all she could spare at the minute.

‘No harm in looking’ she shrugged and made her way across the street to the dusty shopping barn. The place smelt terrible but Abi didn’t have the courage to walk out straight away. A couple of pens down an old dragon coughed smoke rings and wheezed like it had hay fever. A huge griffin creature snored loudly in another pen and couple of magic carpets were rolled up in the pen next door.

‘What a dump’ Abi thought and kicked up hay from the ground.

Suddenly, a spark blew on the hay and a huge stack of hay burst into flame. In her shock, Abi fell to the floor and looked underneath the smoke to see a Phoenix bird, cackling in the corner.

The dwarf shop keeper instantly grabbed one of the magic carpets and smothered the flames with its cherry red stomach.

He wiped the sweat from his head and turned to Abi.

“There’s a real bargain on this one” he murmured, his face turning beefy red.

“How much. I’m sorry; I don’t really have money at the minute.”

“Give me the necklace and hair clips and we’ll call it even” he grunted.

Abi hesitated and looked at the Phoenix bird again. He was busy blowing red flames outside the window.

“He’s not… dangerous is he?”

The dwarf grunted in reply.

Cautiously, she handed the goods and the man handed her a certificate or adoption and forced the beautiful bird in a small cage.

“Don’t let him go until its safe” he warned, dumping the bird in her arms and pushing her out the shop.

She picked up to a jog and stopped the end of the city limits, where there was plenty of space and it was secluded enough to be alone.

“Right, before I open this cage” she whispered the bird looked her in the eye “You have to promise not to run away.”

The bird nodded slightly and Abi slowly opened the cage. Upon regaining his freedom, he hopped around for a little and stretched his wings.

“You’re not going to turn to ash anytime soon or try to burn me to ash are you?” Abi questioned.

The phoenix shook his head.

“My name is Abi Marsh. I spent everything except the clothes on my back for you. Please don’t let me regret it”

“Alright, alright” the phoenix groaned in a deep voice that scared the life out of her. “My name is Felix.”

“You talk?” Abi gasped.

“No, you’re just going crazy. Of course I talk!” Felix joked, fluffing his ruby red feathers up. “Are we planning on going anyway yet? I’m freezing”

“Felix the Phoenix!” Abi laughed, only just twigging.

“We can honestly say you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed” Felix snorted.

Abi pulled a face.

“Now I have no hesitation of telling you were we’re going” she smiled slyly.

His face dropped along with his purple and orange tail feathers. She pointed up to the Dweller mountains on the horizon. The sky was so white that the mountains and sky merged together and it took a good couple of seconds for him to adjust his eye sight to it.

“You’re kidding” he groaned.

It took quite a while for Abi to get seated on his back and for him to warm up. Felix gracefully waved his red wings and hovered over the ground for a while

“How much do you weigh” he groaned at lift off.

“Just fly” Abi laughed.

“If you pull any feathers out, I’ll pull those pretty eye lashes off” he warned and shot through the air, without any hesitation. Abi let out a high pitched squeal which then changed into a giggle. Finally, after a few dodgy drops, Felix landed outside Bloodbeam’s lair.

“Wait here.” she whispered and crept into the door less entrance.

A straight dark corridor led her straight to an unlocked scratched door. Cautiously, she pushed it open and stumbled through.

Someone screamed which made her scream as well.

A thin girl, a bit older than her, sat in a cell in front of her. Her long black hair touched her hips and seemed to be wet. Her eyes were dark and a small cut split her crackled lips.

The room was dark, wet and cold which wasn’t a good mix.

“Oh my god!” Abi cried and ran to the metal bars. “Loriei?”

The girl was confused how she knew her name but realised she probably read it in the newspapers

“You scared me”

“Don’t worry I’ll get you out” Abi assured her, seeing the keys on the side.

She picked them up and fiddled around for the right one. Finally, Loriei was free and she instantly ran to Bloodbeam’s laboratory.

“He’s disappeared but he’ll be back. He’s making salt water but I don’t know why” Loriei informed her.

“Where’s Riley?” Abi asked, following her.

“How do you know her?” Loriei questioned. “Who are you?”

Abi laughed.

“Don’t be silly, it’s me Abi”

Loriei looked blank.

“Don’t you remember? You left me in that hole in Amira Nuit” she reminded.

“Amira Nuit? I can’t go in Amira Nuit”

“But you just did!”

“I was here the whole time along with my sister”

“No, your sister was kidnapped, you forced us to come here and find her.”

“But I couldn’t have. I swear!” Loriei cried, getting upset.

There was silence for a while.

“It’s a trap.” she finally whispered. “They took my hair, they made a dweller clone. It’s a trap!”

Abi was still confused but the idea floated around her head.

“We have to kill the dwellers while we’re here and find Riley. The dweller me is leading them here and whatever Bloodbeam is planning, you cousin while have part in it. We have to stop her.

She snatched the bowl full of dweller stars and cast them into the salt water. Each one squealed and hissed as they slowly melted and dissolved in the acidic solution. The water changed a deep blood red and grew thick.

“You missed one!” Abi called, finding one on the floor and dropping it alongside the others. This one made a huge plop as it hit the surface and burst into small, almost black blood droplets.

They covered their eyes.

“We have to get out of here” Loriei whispered, heading for the door.

“I have a Phoenix, he can take us” Abi suggested, following her.

This Loriei seemed a lot nicer and sweeter than the other one.

“Great! We have to find Riley before Bloodbeam does and find Lyla immediately”

To be continued...